Flow meter for the measuring of fluid volumes originating from a faucet
A low-cost fluid flow meter to conveniently measure the volume of a fluid, for example water, when expelled from a faucet includes a scale with markings for predetermined volumes of a fluid. A flow divider positioned in the main path of flow is used to redirect a small portion of the fluid flow into a separate measurement compartment. The fluid level is then registered optically as a representation of the accumulated fluid flow and presented through light-guiding optics to the user. The measurement compartment is automatically emptied through a pressure activated reset mechanism, so that when fluid flow is turned off the meter is nulled. The device is installed to the outlet of a faucet and operates as a substitute to many of the common measurement sets and containers used in a household for water dosage, as well as serves as an indicator of the water consumed each time the faucet is opened.
Not Applicable
FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCHNot Applicable
SEQUENCE LISTING OR PROGRAMNot Applicable
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention relates to fluid flow measurement. More particularly, the invention relates to a low-cost volumetric flow meter for volume measurements that can easily be mounted and used on a faucet.
A common household item is the measurement set, which are normally plastic containers of various sizes, having capacity for predefined set of volumes such as 5 ml, 15 ml, 50 ml, and 100 ml for example. Measuring a given volume with a measuring set is often a cumbersome procedure involving many steps. For example measuring 165 ml requires several refills with different containers. Moreover using any separate container for measurement purposes requires at least one hand to be free for the task, and many times both hands if water is not to be left running. Also sometimes water contamination of dry and clean containers is undesirable if other substances or foodstuffs are also to be measured at the same time.
Many cookware items have markings to show the user how much fluid is contained in them. These markings are often hard to read and the reading can be very inexact due to the resolution of the scale, the meniscus, and the cookware not being held perfectly flat with respect to the ground. Further, water cannot be added too quickly because waves and bubbles are easily formed in the cookware that can make it very hard to read off a correct value.
There exist several technologies for measuring fluid flow in general and many different types of flow meters are readily available on the open market. However, these flow meters have a number of disadvantages. Many times they are costly, bulky, require electric power or batteries, may require manual handling, and may require a professional to be installed. They cannot be readily mounted to and used on the outlet of a faucet and are often of industrial grade, and thus not designed for operation in for example a kitchen consumer environment.
In certain critical environments where hygiene is of importance, and the cost to benefit ratio of improving the hygiene needs to be carefully considered, the prior art offers few if any practicable solutions in the field of the present invention.
It is of value that technologies of conserving water and solutions that promote sensible water consumption are available at low cost and are easy to use. Simply notifying a faucet user of the consumed water amounts can significantly reduce water consumption over time. Thus, there exists a need for a device such as the one disclosed by the present invention.
SUMMARYIn accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, a volumetric fluid flow meter for the measuring of fluid volumes originating from a faucet is provided. In one embodiment, a housing includes a flow inlet port and a flow outlet port, the inlet port having a connector configured for easy fastening to the outlet of a faucet. Flow entering the inlet port subsequently passes through a main flow conduit comprising a particle filter, a pressure chamber, a flow divider and an aerator grating. The flow outlet port allows for the fluids originating from the faucet to be expelled in the same manner had there been no meter mounted.
The flow divider redirects a small fraction of the flow into a measurement compartment. The compartment has a predetermined shape that correlates it to a scale through a predetermined equation. According to an embodiment of the invention, the equation can for example be noted as V=C*log(s−p)*s+b, where f(s)=C*log(s−p) is a logarithmic weighting function relating the fluid level s in the compartment to the scale. Further, a user interface includes markings and a gauge display that subsequently communicates to the user the total volume of fluid V having expelled from the meter since flow was initiated.
In one embodiment, a plurality of light guides are arranged in a vertical manner, and positioned in such a way that light exiting the light guides are either internally reflected or refracted by a vertically extending prismatic section of the measurement compartment. Fluid residing in the compartment will alter the index of refraction that the light paths are subject to. The light guides have their other ends terminated in the gauge display, which subsequently is able to produce an impression of the fluid level, ultimately functioning as the meter reading.
The pressure chamber connects to the flow divider and vertically elongates when pressure builds up inside. A sealing plate is connected to the extending body of the flow divider. When pressure is high, the sealing plate slides in front of a discharge hole at the bottom of the measurement compartment. When the fluid flow is shut off, the sealing plate retracts and any fluid present in the compartment is drained, effectively resetting the meter.
An exemplary embodiment of the present invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:
A low-cost, simple to install and use flow metering device for measurement of the accumulated volumetric flow of a fluid when expelled from a faucet is provided. An embodiment of the invention is shown in
Referring to
In the disclosed embodiment flow divider 9 functions by allowing the fluid to pass through a known large number of aerator perforations 10 of the same diameter and length. Gauge aperture 11 is suitably of the similar dimensions as the perforations 10, and thus at any point in time outputs a fraction of the flow originating from the inlet port. The fluid exiting from aperture 11 is accumulated in the measurement compartment 12. The fluid level herein thus directly relates to the total volume of fluid having past divider 9 since compartment 12 was empty. Flow obturator 24 helps even out the pressure gradients inside the flow divider.
Referring to
Referring to
A hydrophilic coating, or anti-fog treatment, of the interior of compartment 12 is effectively used to minimize surface tension in order to eliminate droplet contamination on the walls thereof. As illustrated in
Referring to
Referring to
Pressure relief hole 22, shown in
In an alternative embodiment, referring to
In another embodiment, referring to
In another embodiment, the light guides could be configured so that only a handful discrete measuring steps are visible on the meter scale. This would lower manufacturing costs.
In another embodiment, referring to
In another embodiment the scale shown in
In another embodiment, referring to
In another embodiment the light intake is omitted, or coated with a reflecting surface.
In another embodiment a light guiding material having the same basic light guiding physical properties as an array of individual light guides is used. That is, the material should not let bundles of light rays entering the material at different positions to exit the material at the same position.
It will be understood that the description of how the optics of the meter works has been considering only a few of many possible directions for the light beams, and that the end functionality of the meter is compliant with many other directions as well. For illustrative purposes, the direction of light that best describes the features of the optics has been used.
Mounting the meter and having it ready for operation requires only two simple steps. Firstly the unscrewing of the aerator often present on the faucet, and secondly the attaching of the meter in its place.
The meter having been described herein is thus an advantageous solution for any situation requiring fast, easy measurements and dispensing of fluid volumes originating from a faucet. It directly saves water or other fluids, by limiting spill, or flow going directly down the sink that can happen between filling up measurement containers, or when one hand cannot be actively turning on or off the fluid flow.
Wherever awareness and concern over contamination (bacteria, toxins, hazardous waste etc.) of utensils is high, a low-cost, easy to use and install fluid flow meter as the one disclosed can provide a viable option in improving the hygiene. Risk of infectious disease spreading is lessened since the meter requires no manual handling.
The meter also serves as an indication not to keep water running, as well as raising user awareness of overall water consumption. It is not costly to manufacture, it is easy to install and use and can be fitted in a small housing without any other support than its inlet port connector 2. It speeds up the measuring and dispensing process of fluids compared to using separate measurement containers. Automatic resetting allows for seamless operation; no extra step other than reading of the scale is necessary to utilize the meter.
It will be understood that the embodiments of the present invention which have been described herein are merely illustrative of the principles behind it. Numerous modifications may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the true spirit and scope of the invention.
Claims
1. A volumetric fluid flow meter for measuring the accumulated flow, comprising:
- a housing including a flow inlet port having a connector configured for fastening to a faucet outlet;
- a flow divider through which the fluid originating from the faucet outlet flows, having a predetermined fraction of the fluid redirected into a measurement compartment that is substantially enclosed by said housing;
- wherein said measurement compartment forming a container for fluid disposed therein and having a predetermined geometry, so as to provide a representation of the total volume V of fluid having flowed past said flow divider during a predetermined time interval through the relation V=f(s)*s+b, where s represents the fluid level of the fluid contained in said measurement compartment, b is a bias constant and f(s) comprises one of a simple proportionality constant and an arbitrary weighting function, derived from the geometry of said measurement compartment and said flow divider; and
- a flow outlet port configured to provide an outlet for fluids originating from the faucet.
2. The volumetric fluid flow meter according to claim 1, further comprising a user interface attached to said housing.
3. The volumetric fluid flow meter according to claim 2, wherein said user interface includes a scale with markings for predetermined fluid volumes.
4. The volumetric fluid flow meter according to claim 3, wherein said markings comprise at least one of: numbers, letters and symbols.
5. The volumetric fluid flow meter according to claim 2, wherein said weighting function is either one of: a constant function; a logarithmic function; a step function.
6. The volumetric fluid flow meter according to claim 1, further comprising a light guiding member attached to said housing configured to visually communicate the fluid level of said measurement compartment, whereby the fluid level can be more easily read off.
7. The volumetric fluid flow meter according to claim 6, wherein said light guiding member comprises a plurality of light guides.
8. The volumetric fluid flow meter according to claim 7, wherein said plurality of light guides are made of transparent PMMA plastics.
9. The volumetric fluid flow meter according to claim 6, wherein said light guiding member and measurement compartment are configured to refract or reflect traversing light in a substantially different direction depending on the fluid level in said measurement compartment, whereby readability of the fluid level is further improved.
10. The volumetric fluid flow meter according to claim 9, wherein said measurement compartment is at least partly composed of a transparent material with a refractive index other than that of the contained fluid therein or the surrounding air or gas, so as to allow for total internal reflection at the refractive boundary between said measurement compartment and the contained fluid therein or the surrounding air or gas, whereby readability of the fluid level is further improved.
11. The volumetric fluid flow meter according to claim 10, wherein said transparent material comprises at least one deflecting prism.
12. The volumetric fluid flow meter according to claim 10, where the refraction or reflection occurs at the approximate center of gravity for the horizontal cross sections of said measurement compartment, whereby the fluid level is not unduly biased because of said flow meter operating at a tilted position with respect to the ground.
13. The volumetric fluid flow meter according to claim 6, wherein the housing has at least one translucent or transparent opening functioning as a light-intake, so as to provide for outside light the possibility to enter said flow meter and escape through said light guiding member, whereby readability of the fluid level is further improved.
14. The volumetric fluid flow meter according to claim 13, further comprising at least one lens placed in the optical path between said light-intake and said light guiding member, so as to allow for a larger flux of light to pass into said light guiding member.
15. The volumetric fluid flow meter according to claim 1, further including a reset mechanism comprising a pressure chamber being able to change its shape in relation to the exerted pressure of the fluid flowing through said pressure chamber, so as to directly or indirectly being able to obstruct or retract from an opening in said measurement compartment, whereby the fluid therein is contained or drained, giving said fluid flow meter the ability to automatically null itself after fluid flow has been shut off.
16. The volumetric fluid flow meter according to claim 15, wherein said pressure chamber is an elastic conduit having an inlet and an outlet, said inlet diameter being greater than said outlet diameter, so as to cause a flow activated pressure build-up, resulting in expansion of said pressure chamber.
17. The volumetric fluid flow meter according to claim 16, further including at least one pressure relief hole configured to provide a positive feedback loop for the pressure build-up inside said pressure chamber, whereby the expansion of said pressure chamber is more agile and less affected by fluctuations in the fluid flow.
18. The volumetric fluid flow meter according to claim 1, wherein the interior of said measurement compartment is anti-fog treated, so as to minimize the surface tension of the contained fluid therein, whereby more precise measurements can be made, droplet contamination is eliminated, and fluid discharge is more effective.
19. A volumetric water flow meter, comprising:
- a housing including a flow inlet port having a connector configured for fastening to a water faucet outlet;
- a flow outlet port, connected to said housing and configured to provide an outlet for water originating from the faucet;
- a flow divider for redirecting a predetermined fraction of the water flow originating from said inlet port to a measurement compartment located inside said housing;
- said measurement compartment having a shape derived from some predetermined equation relating a water level to a scale, so as to let a display inform a user of the integrated water flow over time, whereby the total volume amount of water having expelled from said volumetric water flow meter since water flow was initiated can be registered;
- wherein said scale includes a plurality of markings representing different predetermined water volumes;
- light guiding means in communication with said measurement compartment for displaying said water level of said measurement compartment on said scale; and pressure activated automatic resetting means for enabling said volumetric water flow meter to reset itself when water flow is turned off.
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Type: Grant
Filed: May 19, 2012
Date of Patent: Jun 30, 2015
Patent Publication Number: 20130305820
Inventor: Oskar L. Granstrand (Stockholm)
Primary Examiner: Harshad R Patel
Application Number: 13/475,944
International Classification: G01F 23/00 (20060101); E03C 1/266 (20060101); G01F 19/00 (20060101); E03C 1/08 (20060101); G01F 5/00 (20060101); G01F 15/07 (20060101); G01F 22/00 (20060101);